How to use it
- 1Choose how many hours you really have for tasks today, not counting meetings and breaks.
- 2Tick the example tasks you want, or remove them and add your own with a rough duration.
- 3Read the time bar: green while it fits, amber when it is full. The text tells you how much time is left, or how much too much.
- 4Too much? Pick what can move to another day, rather than planning to work late.
Why add up your tasks?
A to-do list hides how long things take. Ten small tasks feel doable until you add them up and find six hours of work for a four-hour afternoon. Seeing the total helps you choose before the day starts, which is the idea behind a realistic day plan. In Plenzu the same time bar sits above every day, and the weekly planner shows it for the whole week.
Questions
Why does it keep a buffer?
Days rarely go as planned: a call runs long, something urgent comes in. The calculator keeps the last 15% of your hours free for that, so a day that fits on paper also fits in practice.
What if I do not know how long a task takes?
Make a rough guess, such as 30 minutes or 2 hours. A guess is much better than nothing, and you get better at it quickly.
What should I do when my day does not fit?
Move a task to another day, make it smaller, or let it go. Working late to fit everything in only moves the problem to tomorrow.